CENSORSHIP has become a bit of a running theme over the past few weeks, but the most ridiculous example I've found so far comes from Venezuela, where Bart Simpson has been banned from television screens for fear he might corrupt the country's children.
Instead, the 11am slot will be filled by episodes of Baywatch - the show that a group of British mothers once denounced as "soft porn".
So instead of growing up with a healthily cynical attitude towards authority, Venezuela's children will learn that the best way to get ahead in life is to look good in swimwear and, if you're a girl, have ginormous breasts that must seriously affect the speed with which these so-called "lifeguards" can move through the water.
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Whether any real complaints about the show had been received by Venezuelan television regulators seems questionable, but the country does have a law banning any "messages that act against the education of boys, girls and adolescents".
Imagine if we had the same rule over here - a whole generation would have grown up without Grange Hill, and Dennis The Menace wouldn't have even existed.
It makes for an amusing news story, so no-one seems too worried about Venezuela's behaviour. But perhaps it is the thin end of a wedge that culminates in a society like China's, the arch-censors who keep a tight grip on everything from the national media to the internet.
Incidentally, Venezuelan president Chavez has just expressed his support for Beijing over the Tibet protests.
It seems he is taking the so-called People's Republic as something of an inspiration at the moment. You have to wonder where it's going to end.
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